Why Do We Suffer?
Today when I arrived home from my meetings at the Married
Student Stake that I serve in my wife told me about two families that have had
tragedies strike them. One family is a neighbor of ours and the husband is a
member of our church and the wife is not. The wife has been planning on being
baptized this coming Saturday, March 8th and the family has been
excited and anticipating a great spiritual experience. Things changed earlier
this week, when she took two of her medications too close together instead of one
in the morning and the other in the evening. When the paramedics came she was
only breathing about 4 times a minute and had lapsed into a coma. After doing
several tests and finding no brain activity she was taken off the life support but
she suddenly started breathing on her own. The family is by her side and hoping
for a miracle but there has been no change.
The other family has four children, two of them serving
missions. The two younger children (a 14 year old boy and a 12 year old boy)
and both parents died of carbon monoxide poisoning the evening of February 22nd
and the two missionaries have returned home to bury their family members.
Neighbors found the family after they went looking to see why they did not come
to church on Sunday.
When see suffering like this we often ask, “Why do things
like this happen to such good people? The two missionaries were serving the
Lord, why would God not do something to protect their family? If God loved them
as the scriptures say why would he allow such a tragedy happen to a family who
had given so much to send two sons in the mission field at the same time? Why
couldn’t God have caused the other woman to realize what she was doing? Why do bad
things happen to good people?
Kenneth H. Beesley, in a New Era article explained why
suffering is part of this life:
“God
allows us to enter this world with all its risks, aware that facing and
overcoming such perils is essential to our eternal progression. You recall that
Joseph Smith while in Liberty Jail pleaded with the Lord concerning his own
sufferings and those of his fellow Saints. The Lord answered, “If thou art
called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren;
if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea; …
if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine
enemy; … if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee,
know thou, my son, that all these
things shall give thee experience, and shaft be for thy good.” (D&C 122: 5, 7. Italics added.)
“What seems to be a tragedy
(and a cause for suffering) may from an eternal perspective be a blessing and a
cause for rejoicing. Sufferings have the potential of blessing man. They may
strengthen us for future tasks. They can make us sensitive to the pains of
others and more willing to sacrifice for others. (Christ suggests that one must
lose his life to find it.) They may help us appreciate Christ’s atonement; they
may help to purge our imperfections and to purify us.”
(“What is the Purpose of Suffering”, New Era, April, 1975)
Elder Ronald E. Poelman added his thoughts on suffering in a
general conference address in 1989:
“Adversity
in the lives of the obedient and faithful may be the consequence of disease,
accidental injury, ignorance, or the influence of the adversary. To preserve
free agency, the Lord also at times permits the righteous to suffer the
consequences of evil acts by others. (See 1 Ne. 18:16.)
“Some
may respond to such innocent suffering with resentment, anger, bitterness,
doubt, or fear. (See 1 Ne. 17:20.) Others, with a knowledge and testimony of
the divine plan of salvation, often respond with faith, patience, and hope born
of that “peace … which passeth all understanding.” (Philip. 4:6–7.)
“The
plan of salvation presented to and accepted by us in our premortal state
includes a probationary period on earth, during which we experience opposites,
make choices, learn the consequences thereof, and prepare to return to the
presence of God. Experiencing adversity is an essential part of the process.
Knowing this, we elected to come into mortality. (See 2 Ne. 2:11–16.)” (‘Adversity and the Devine
Purpose of Mortality”, Elder Ronald E. Poelman, General Conference, April 1989)
In another conference talk Kent Richards explained what he
learned about pain and suffering:
I have
pondered about the purpose of pain. None of us is immune from experiencing
pain. I have seen people cope with it very differently. Some turn away from God
in anger, and others allow their suffering to bring them closer to God.
Like you, I have experienced pain myself. Pain
is a gauge of the healing process. It often teaches us patience. Perhaps that
is why we use the termpatient in referring to the
sick.
Elder Orson F. Whitney wrote: “No pain that we
suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education,
to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and
humility. … It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we
gain the education that we come here to acquire.” (“The Atonement Covers All
Pain”, Elder Kent F. Richards, General Conference, April 2011)
From these teachings and others we learn that suffering is
part of this mortal existence and always will be. The scriptures tell us that
there must be an opposition of all things. If not we would not be able to enjoy
the good things that are part of life:
“For it must needs be, that
there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the
wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness,
neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must
needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs
remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption,
happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.” (2 Nephi 2:11)
The prophet Joseph Smith suffered at the hands of wicked men
most of his life. During one time when he was in a Liberty, Missouri jail he
cried out to the Lord:
1 O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that
covereth thy hiding place?
2 How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye,
yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and
of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?
3 Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and
unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened
toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?
(Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-3)
After being unjustly held for more than six months in jail,
having been poisoned and subjected to many other degrading experiences, he
plead for the welfare of his friends and people. He did not ask for his relief,
but the relief of others. In answer to his prayer the Lord said:
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou
shalt triumph over all thy foes.
10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither
charge thee with transgression, as they did Job. (Doctrine and Covenants
121:8-10)
7…if
the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee,
know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than
he? (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-8)
Even Christ, the only person to live in this mortal life
perfectly, suffered and learned from the things he suffered (Hebrews 5:8).
Speaking of his suffering he said:
16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of
all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both
body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I
partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.
(Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19)
None of us are exempt from pain and suffering. When it
comes, how we deal with it will be determined by how much faith we have in our
Heavenly Father and our testimony that the Savior Jesus Christ can heal all wounds,
all pain, all suffering and we can be made whole again.
When others are suffering, we have the opportunity to
provide Christ-like service by being there to comfort and provide hope. Often
times we don’t know what to say or what to do. The best thing may be for us to
just go visit and cry with them, to tell them we are praying for them, give
them a hug. Even going and doing the dishes or laundry, anything will help,
just be there with them. When we lose
ourselves in service to others our own pain and suffering is often healed as
well.
My heart goes out to the two families and others that are
suffering with the loss of loved ones. I unite my prayers with many others who
are praying that they will feel the healing power of our Savior Jesus Christ
and that they will be comforted in the knowledge that families are eternal and
they will be with them again.
Your thoughts and comments are welcome.
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